Cultural Product Design Matrix

Authors: Carsten Deckert, Nicole Nawrat, Anke Scherer

This working paper addresses the issue of cross-cultural innovation and asks how companies can adapt successfully to culturally different markets in the design of their product. The focus is on
the physical product characteristics such as color, size, flavor, and form that vary across cultures and where the culturally different preferences for and meanings of these features are an
important factor in marketing and sales of the products. After a general introduction about the influence of culture on production design, the article presents the Cultural Product Design Matrix
that serves to guide the product development process in a way that avoids cultural blunders and leads to the creation of products that are culturally adequate in foreign markets. This matrix is
then applied to several case studies from the consumer goods industry, in particular the beauty and home care sector, to test its usability as an instrument that can help producers to hedge
against culture-related problems in the conception and launch of their products in new markets.

Creative Heuristics

A Framework for Systematic Creatice Problem Solving

Creativity in inventive problem solving usually takes place in the middle of the continuum of sheer chance and safe bet. Inventors normally use creative heuristics which provide them with
promising search fields and directions for inventive problems. The paper at hand analyzes the existing frameworks of heuristic principles described in scientific literature about invention and
insight, and proposes a framework of creative heuristics. Furthermore existing heuristics from invention and insight research are allocated to the principles in the framework. Thus, the proposed
framework of creative heuristics can be used as a toolbox in creative or inventive problem solving and as a means to promote creativity in engineering education.

Tensions in Creative Products

Using the Value Square to Model Functional Creativity

The standard definition of creativity is based on a tension between originality and effectiveness. The paper explores how this tension pervades the functional creativity of creative products. To
achieve this, the so called value square (“Wertequadrat”) developed by Helwig (1967) and Schulz von Thun (1998) is used. The value square balances a value with its countervalue. The author
identifies two tensions – the tension concerning style and novelty and the tension concerning resolution and novelty – which both represent the tension between effectiveness and originality of
the standard definition. Furthermore a tension within effectiveness is identified – a tension concerning style and resolution. The implications of these tensions on product design are discussed
and as a conclusion a dilemma of customer insight is developed.

Tensions in Corporate Creativity

Using the Value Square to Model Organizational Creativity

The standard definition of creativity is based on a tension between originality on the one side and effectiveness on the other side. Borrowing from the wave-particle duality in physics one could
say that there is an originality-effectiveness duality at work for creativity. The paper explores how this tension pervades Amabile’s (1997) componential theory of organizational creativity. To
achieve this, the so called value square (“Wertequadrat”) developed by Helwig (1967) and Schulz von Thun (1998) is used which balances a value with its countervalue to analyze the components of
corporate creativity. The author identifies tensions of corporate tradition and corporate change for organizational motivation, skills and challenges for work assignment, management by control
and management by loss of control for work control as well as organizational efficiency and organizational slack for resources. Additionally implications for resistances to creativity, the flow
of creativity, the avoidance of a culture of compulsive control, freedom and autonomy in the workplace as well as resource allocation are discussed.

Tensions in Creativity

Using the Value Square to Model Individual Creativity

The definition of individual creativity is based on a tension between novelty on the one side and usefulness respectively appropriateness on the other side. The paper explores how this tension
pervades the stage and componential theories of creativity. To achieve this, the so called value square (“Wertequadrat”) developed by Helwig (1967) and Schulz von Thun (1998) is used which
balances a value with its countervalue to analyze creativity. The author identifies tensions of action and inaction, expertise and mindfulness, precision and ambiguity as well as immersion and
detachment permeating the creative process and the components of creativity. As a conclusion a morphological box for creativity is presented which allows one to show which combination of
characteristics of the tensions support different stages of creativity. Furthermore implications for development and time management are discussed.

Cultural Impacts on National Innovativeness

Links between the GLOBE Cultural Dimensions and the GII and IUS Innovation Indexes

Authors: Carsten Deckert, Ankes Scherer, Viola I. Nyssen Guillén

The working paper at hand assumes that differences of innovativeness of different countries can be explained to a certain extent by cultural differences. Thus, the paper deals with the research
question of which cultural dimensions have an influence on national innovativeness. Previous research mainly uses the Hofstede-dimensions to describe cultural differences and often focuses on
single parameters to describe national innovativeness (e.g. number of patents per capita). This paper, instead, uses the dimensions of the GLOBE-study which builds on the findings of Hofstede but
is more up-to-date and comprehensive and uses two innovation indexes – the Global Innovation Index (GII) and the Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) – to describe national innovativeness.
The authors use correlation analysis to find relationships between the GLOBE dimensions and the innovation indexes. They find positive correlations of innovativeness (both indexes) to Future
Orientation (practice scale), Gender Egalitarianism (value scale), Human Orientation (value scale) and Uncertainty Avoidance (practice scale) as well as negative correlations to In-Group
Collectivism (practice scale), Future Orientation (value scale) and Uncertainty Avoidance (value scale). Some of the findings are contrary to existing hypotheses, e.g. only a weak negative
correlation of Power Distance to one of the indexes. Furthermore the findings show significant differences between practice scales and value scales, especially concerning Future Orientation and
Uncertainty Avoidance which deserve further examination.
Overall it can be concluded that culture has an impact on national innovativeness.
The different cultural dimensions of the GLOBE-study show a multi-faceted interrelationship between culture and innovation. To come to a concise answer for the question which dimensions affect
national innovativeness in which way additional research will be necessary.

Cultural Impacts on National Innovativeness

Links between the GLOBE Cultural Dimensions and the GII and IUS Innovation Indexes